Warwick's Curiosity House, Ballarat, Victoria, 189-? / photographed by George Black

SPF/1844

fonds

ca. 1910 reprint from an original negative, 189-?

Graphic Materials, Photographs

915734

1 photograph - gelatin silver - image 20.0 x 15.0 cm, on mount approx. 27.5 x 22.0 cm

The Old Curiosity House in Ballarat, Victoria (later known as the Old Curiosity Shop), was built in the 1860s by James and Caroline Warwick, who emigrated from England to Australia in 1855. James, a bricklayer and gardener, and his wife Caroline built the timber and brick house decorating the house and garden with a variety of materials including crockery, glass, dolls and figurines, mirrors, shells, and architectural ornaments. This mosaic work occupied them for the rest of their lives. In the 1890s, the house became known as the 'Old Curiosity Shop' and the house museum was a tourist attraction. Caroline began issuing her own postcards before she died in 1903. The shop closed to the public in 1999. The building, which still exists in Queen Street, Ballarat East, is listed on the Victorian Heritage Database.

References:
Victorian Heritage Database / Heritage Council of Victoria. http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/ (accessed 30 December 2010)
The Argus, 13 August 1949 on Trove. http://www.trove.nla.gov.au/ (accessed 30 December 2010)

Photograph showing an elderly man and woman, probably James and Caroline Warwick, standing outside the 'Old Curiosity House'

Out of copyright: Created before 1955

Titled 'Warwick's Curiosity House' - faint inscription in image

Stamped 'Black, Ballarat, Copyright' on mount below image

Dated by Curator of Photographs, Mitchell Library, November 2010